“Garbage” was the word Charles Emhardt used to describe the BU Mobile app on Feb. 12 when he proposed forming a Student Government committee to find ways of improving it.
“I find the current BU mobile app difficult to use, as well as impractical and unwieldy,” Emhardt, a Student Government senator elected to represent the Questrom School of Business told The Daily Free Press. “I believe the [user interface] is outdated and it needs updating.”
Emhardt’s proposal was voted on and granted the same day. Now chairperson of the committee, he said initial steps have been taken to make the goal of creating an app the student body would be happy with a reality.
The app, which is currently only available on the Apple App Store, was introduced roughly seven years ago. Its last update was five months ago, and before that, there had not been an update in more than a year, according to the App Store.
While Emhardt said he had a few ideas in mind for what he wanted to see in an improved mobile app, he does not want the process to be solely about him, the committee or people involved in Student Government.
“I want to seek out feedback,” Emhardt said. “I’m hoping to form more of a community-style approach.”
Part of that approach, he said, would include working with BU Information Services & Technology.
“The committee is not trying to fight BU IT,” Emhardt said. “The committee wants to work with BU IT for the benefit of everybody.”
Associate Director of Applications at IS&T Ronald Yeany said he manages the team that developed and maintains the BU Mobile app. He added that while a meeting with Emhardt has not yet been scheduled, “IS&T leadership will meet with Charles and work to identify ways we can move forward.”
IS&T does not know any specifics about what Emhardt would propose, nor whether it is feasible, Yeany said.
At the time when the current BU Mobile app was developed, cell phone statistics were heavily skewed toward Apple devices, Yeany said. While the gap has been closing, at the time it “didn’t make sense” to make a version of the app for other operating systems.
Emhardt, who uses a phone with an Android operating system, said that was one of the issues he would want to address through the committee.
Nehemiah Dureus, a Student Government senator for the College of Engineering, expressed support for the committee.
“I hope that this committee can solve the problems it presented to us when it was proposed in Senate,” Dureus said. “I believe that with Emhardt as chair, there’s a good chance that will happen.”
Emhardt said that as part of his community-focused approach, he has plans to work with BU faculty and professors, including lecturer Gregory Defronzo.
“We discuss applications and processes that may need improvement from a student perspective,” said Defronzo, who serves as executive director of Information Technology Services. Defronzo added that the goal is to “map the current process, identify friction points and map a new process.”
Several BU students said they think the current app is confusing, and that they would likely start using the app more if it were refurbished.
Kellie Egan, a College of Communication sophomore, said she usually uses the app weekly for the buses. She said she could possibly see herself using it more if new features and improvements that made it easier to use were implemented.
“It’s a confusing app,” Egan said. “It took me a while to get used to it.”
Katya Leidig, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore, said she does not use the app very much beyond checking for the bus if she is running late to class. She said she’d like to see a more inviting UI in a future version of the app.
“There’s an emergency button on there, but no one’s going to click it unless it’s an
emergency because it looks scary,” Leidig said.
Brandon Sookraj, an ENG junior, said that because he has a phone with the Android operating system, he could not download the app to navigate BU’s campus when he started at the university.
“I just had a piece of paper with all the codes and then Google Maps to help me find where I need to go,” he said.
If an app were to be made available to Android users, Sookraj added, he could see himself using it on a weekly basis.
I think what you are doing is a great cause and something that should have happened a long time ago.